Device-agnostic content management, playback and status monitoring system

ABSTRACT

A system is provided that includes a software agent, an electronic device, a display, and a content management system. The electronic device accesses the software agent and interprets it with a software application, such as a web browser. Embedded within the software agent is a playback system, which dictates content to be shown, and a monitoring system, which collects logging and status data. At least some of the content is stored on the electronic device prior to display, and at least some of the logging and status data is stored on the electronic device prior to being transferred to the content management system.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims the benefit of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 13/568,213 titled “Device-Agnostic ContentManagement, Playback and Status Monitoring System” and filed Aug. 7,2012, which is a continuation of and claims the benefit of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/457,615 titled “Device-Agnostic ContentManagement, Playback and Status Monitoring System” and filed Apr. 27,2012, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,260,842.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the distribution, management, and playback ofmultimedia content.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Within a given organization, it is common to see several differentsystems used for managing content and monitoring the health status ofdifferent types of remote devices. As the number and type of remotedevices grows, the cost of maintaining and integrating contentmanagement and device management systems using standard systemseventually becomes prohibitive. In addition, when many different typesof playback devices are configured to show the content—for example, PCs,mobile phones, tablets, and dynamic signs—these devices will typicallyhave different physical form factors and playback capabilities, so thedesired content may need to be transmitted via different channels or indifferent formats to ensure correct playback. Regardless of the level ofintegration achieved, these systems also require that repetitive tasksbe performed manually in order to manage the content schedules ondifferent device types.

When prior art content management systems attempt to provide a universalplayback environment to replace these disparate systems, they typicallyutilize a remedial web-based rendering environment to play back contentthat is streamed over the Internet. While some prior art discussesstoring content prior to display, the prior art does not provide amethod in which the playback system may dictate the content to bedisplayed in conjunction with such storage. Further, these systems lackthe ability to store logging and status data on the device after it iscollected. As a result, existing solutions are highly sensitive tointerruptions in the device's network connection.

Accordingly, there is a need for a system that can dictate the storageand playback of content obtained over a communication network (such asthe Internet) on a diverse set of electronic devices, and reliablycollect logging and status data from each device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide a system for contentplayback and management. In an embodiment of the invention, a softwareagent is accessed by an electronic device that is in communication witha display and that contains a software application which interprets thesoftware agent, a content management system is in communication with thesoftware agent, a playback system embedded within the software agentdictates content to be shown by the electronic device, wherein at leastsome of the content and instructions pertaining to the content are sentfrom the content management system and stored on the electronic deviceprior to display, and a monitoring system embedded within the softwareagent collects logging data pertaining to the activity of the playbacksystem and status data pertaining to other activity of the electronicdevice, wherein at least some of the data is stored on the electronicdevice prior to transfer of the data to the content management system.

It is a further object of the invention that the system operate via acomputer network, such as the Internet.

It is a further object of the invention that the devices are any of thefollowing: desktop and laptop PCs, mobile phones, IP phones, tablets,set-top boxes, TVs, embedded systems, dynamic signs, and other devicescontaining a web browser or similar software application.

It is a further object of the invention that the content is any of thefollowing: video, animation, still image, uniform resource locator(URL), scrolling text, and templated content.

It is a further object of the invention that live or streaming videocontent may be obtained from a source selected from the group consistingof antenna, cable, and satellite.

It is a further object of the invention that the content is controlledby a playlist, which itself may contain other playlists.

It is a further object of the invention that the device shows more thanone zone of content at once.

It is a further object of the invention that the device allows the userto interact with the content.

It is a further object of the invention that each playback andinteraction is logged.

It is a further object of the invention that the system can retrieveperiodic snapshots or a live video stream of what is being shown on thedevice.

It is a further object of the invention that the device enable users tosubmit feedback on the displayed content and the feedback is used toadjust subsequent displayed content on the device.

It is a further object of the invention that the device allows the userto pause the content and resume viewing later, on the same device or adifferent one.

It is a further object of the invention that the system can changesettings associated with the device.

It is a further object of the invention that the content managementsystem provides shortcuts to viewing a particular set of files via aknown technology, such as a URL shortener or QR code generator.

It is a further object of the invention that a password may be requiredfor content to be shown.

It is a further object of the invention that a gaming or incentivesfeature is included in which user identities are associated with contentviews.

It is a further object of the invention that additional technologiessuch as payments, NFC, or third-party ad insertion are provided for.

It is a further object of the invention that employee training videos,safety messaging, and HR updates can be selectively delivered to devicesassociated with selected employees.

It is a further object of the invention that recruiting videos andwayfinding maps can be sent to the devices of selected visitors on acorporate or educational campus.

It is a further object of the invention that featured product videos orlinks to e-commerce pages, coupons, surveys, and social media sites canbe selectively sent to devices associated with retail or restaurantcustomers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a system for content playback andmanagement according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a method for content playback andmanagement according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an aspect of the system for contentplayback and management illustrated in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The invention provides a universal mechanism for distributing content tovirtually any type of electronic device, automating repetitivescheduling tasks, and monitoring all of these disparate devices from acentralized interface. The system is designed to run largely (orentirely) inside of a web browser. As such, it is compatible with anydevice capable of running a browser, regardless of what operating system(e.g., Windows, Mac OS, Android), what screen size/resolution, and evenwhat underlying hardware (e.g., x86/ARM CPU) is present, and is suitablefor running on most computing devices containing a CPU and a screen (forexample, PCs, mobile phones and tablets). The web browser interprets thecode and data objects of the system, and provides a layer of abstractionwhere various pieces of information about the underlying hardware andoperating system can be gleaned, although this information does notnecessarily have to be utilized in order to display content.

The system of the invention can fetch content from remote locations,store it locally (as needed), create local databases for logginginformation, and create two-way synchronous and non-synchronousconnections to external servers from which to access data andinstructions. Many types of content, including text, templatedstructured data (such as HTML or XML), video and images are alsosupported by the system, as are numerous visual effects and controlsuseful in organizing the content. By handling all tasks from deviceregistration to content acquisition to screen layout to content playbackand logging and status monitoring inside the browser (or a similarapplication capable of interpreting a combination of structured data,source code and data objects in near real-time), it is possible for acentralized content playback and management platform to deliver auniform content experience to a variety of different display deviceswhile collecting logging and status data from these devices.

Referring to FIG. 1, a content management system (CMS) 110 is incommunication with an electronic device 104 via a communication link 112such as the Internet. The electronic device 104 includes or is incommunication with a display 106. The electronic device 104 includes asoftware application 108, which interprets a software agent 102. Thesoftware agent 102 is accessed by electronic device 104 and includes aplayback system 114 and a monitoring system 120. The CMS 110 sendsinstructions and content 116 to the electronic device 104 via theplayback system 114. The playback system 114 stores the instructions andcontent 116 prior to display on device storage 118. The playback system114 determines the content 116 to be shown on the display 106 based onthe instructions sent by the CMS 110. The monitoring system 120 collectslogging and status data 122, which can be stored on device storage 118before being transmitted to the CMS 110.

In operation, referring to FIG. 2, the CMS 110 sends content andinstructions in step 202 over a communication link to the software agent102. The software agent 102 on the electronic device stores in step 204the content and instructions sent by the CMS 110 in step 202 on theelectronic device. The software agent 102, based on the instructionsreceived from the CMS 110, dictates the content to be displayed on theelectronic device in step 206. In step 208, the software agent 102collects logging data pertaining to the playback system, such as contentplayed, along with status data pertaining to other activity of theelectronic device, such as its network connection or wireless signalstrength. Software agent 102 stores in step 210 the logging and statusdata collected in step 208 prior to transferring the logging and statusdata to the CMS 110.

The functionality of the invention can be divided into four primaryareas: (1) device authorization, (2) content provisioning, (3)preparation of software agent, and (4) operation of playback andmonitoring systems.

1. Device Authorization

The CMS is configured to allow connections from the display devices, inone of several ways. Most limitingly, the CMS can specify an explicitlist of devices allowed to connect and retrieve content, and use somemethod of authentication to enforce that behavior. Least limitingly, theCMS can specify that any compatible device may connect to it andretrieve content from it (in which case some means of unique deviceidentification may still be required, but only to enhance the CMS'sability to log requests and receive status data from each device, notfor the purposes of restricting access). Finally, the CMS might employ acombination of the two approaches described above, where an explicitwhitelist (of zero or more items) is combined with logic rules that areapplied to data provided by the devices (such as an IP address,connected display size/resolution, globally unique identification numberor GUID, or pre-programmed physical location) as well as data providedfrom remote sensors, data stores and other sources of information.

2. Content Provisioning

Once it is clear which devices are and are not allowed to connect to theCMS, the CMS can function in one of two ways (or both at the same time):it can listen for incoming connections from devices or it can pushinformation out to devices, depending on each device's configuration andcapabilities. In the scenario where content is pushed to the device, theCMS would open a connection to each device using a known protocol andaddressing scheme (such as is used with UDP/IP or POSIX compliantsockets). The CMS could only connect and push content to known devices,e.g. those entered into its “allowed devices” list as described above.In the scenario where display devices autonomously connect to the CMS inan attempt to pull information from the system, the CMS will allowincoming connections on one or more ports of a listening server.Connections may be made via any mutually-supported data protocol thatallows for two-way data exchange, such as TCP/IP. The data itself couldbe conceptualized as a series of packets (as it might be when using HTTPto transmit/receive the data), or as a stream (as it might be when usingwebsockets to transmit/receive the data).

When connecting via a pull-based system, each device may request eithera general URL specified by the CMS, or a URL customized to include someunique identifying information. In the former case, the CMS might haveto request additional information from the device before being able tomake the appropriate response.

3. Preparation of Software Agent

Once connected to the device, the CMS will prepare a software agentutilizing a series of pre-generated software components, which will bearranged based on instructions from the CMS, as well as any relevantinformation supplied by the device (such as size/resolution of theconnected display). Referring to FIG. 3, the components of softwareagent 102 can be organized under the categories of a playback system 114and a monitoring system 120, which are described in more detail below.

The playback system 114 allows content to be stored and displayed on theelectronic device and can include the following components:

-   -   Device management module 302. A device management module 302        maintains communications with the CMS to provide status        information and/or connection information, and to retrieve and        store content and/or instructions from the CMS.    -   Display module 304. Display modules 304 handle playback of the        content. Different types of display modules may be used to        handle playback of different types of content, such as video,        still images and text.    -   Display management module 306. A display management module 306        controls the appearance of the display modules, including how,        when and where each appears on the display.    -   Content management module 308. A content management module 308        takes explicit instructions from the CMS, or uses supplemental        logic to dictate what content should be displayed in each of the        display modules' display areas.    -   File management module 310. A file management module 310        identifies all content and data files specified by the CMS, and        either builds references (such as hyperlinks) to them, or        downloads them to device storage or another temporary or        permanent data store for later retrieval and playback by the        display modules 304.

The monitoring system 120 allows content playback and other deviceactivities to be tracked, stored, and transmitted to the CMS and caninclude the following components:

-   -   Input management module 312. An input management module 312        controls how input events (such as touches on a touch screen,        presses of an attached button, or input from a connected sensor)        should be interpreted. These input events might modify the        display layout (as specified by the display management module),        cause different content to be played, or force the device        management module 302 to request or send new information to the        CMS.    -   Logging module 314. A logging module 314 monitors aspects of the        other modules and the device itself, including content playback        events, and stores the assembled information locally (either in        device storage or a another temporary or permanent data store)        until such time when the data may be sent back to the CMS.

Once the software components are assembled into the software agent(taking into account any relevant collected inputs from the device andCMS), it is sent to the device as a series of one or more datadocuments. If the device is connected via a push connection, the CMSsends the software agent directly to the device. If the device isconnected via a pull connection, the software agent would be sent as areply to the device's request. The software agent would then be loadedinto an application already contained on the device, which wouldinterpret the software agent and begin running it. In a preferredembodiment, the software agent is primarily composed of web-basedtechnologies such as HTML 5, CSS and JavaScript/ECMAScript, and thesoftware application is a web browser capable of interpreting,processing and displaying these technologies.

4. Operation of Playback and Monitoring Systems

Once rendered, the software agent would automatically begin establishingany necessary connections to the CMS and content/data sources (whetherlocal or remote), downloading content/data files as needed, and playingback content into the display modules based on instructions interpretedby the various management modules. These playbacks and other events(such as input events or status information pertaining to other aspectsof the device, such as its network connection or wireless signalstrength) would be monitored by functions in the software agent'svarious modules, and logged. The logs would temporarily be storedlocally, and would periodically be sent to the CMS. Because the deviceand the software agent could have semi-persistent connections to the CMSand any associated sensors, data stores or content sources, it wouldalso be possible to perform specific actions like setting up “hard”content playback schedules to ensure that all displays are showing thesame, specified content at the same time. Likewise, it would be possibleto coordinate multiple connected devices to act in unison to displaylarger pieces of content, e.g., in a multi-screen video wall. Finally,it would be possible to force immediate content changes to all connecteddevices, which would be particularly useful, for example, in deliveringemergency notifications to many devices at once.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A system for content playback andmanagement comprising: a software agent accessed by a mobile phone thatcontains a web browser which interprets the software agent; a contentmanagement system in communication with the software agent; a playbacksystem embedded within the software agent that dictates content to beshown by the mobile phone, wherein at least some of the content andinstructions pertaining to the content are sent from the contentmanagement system and stored on the mobile phone prior to display; and amonitoring system embedded within the software agent that collectslogging data pertaining to the activity of the playback system andstatus data pertaining to other activity of the mobile phone, wherein atleast some of the data is stored on the mobile phone prior to transferof the data to the content management system.
 2. The system of claim 1,wherein the logging and status data includes any of the following:periodic snapshots of the content shown, or a live video stream of thecontent shown.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the monitoring systemlistens for feedback that pertains to the content and that is providedwhen a user touches a touch screen, presses an attached button, orinteracts with a connected sensor, and subsequently relays the feedbackto the playback system.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein a user maypause the content and resume viewing the content at a later time.
 5. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the instructions include at least one changeto at least one setting associated with the mobile phone.
 6. The systemof claim 1, wherein the content management system provides a mechanismfor creating a shortcut that corresponds to a particular set of contentfiles and the mechanism is any of the following: URL shortener, QR codegenerator, or NFC beacon code generator.
 7. The system of claim 1,wherein the content is any of the following: employee training video,safety video, human resources video, recruiting video, featured productvideo, map, or emergency notification.
 8. A system for content playbackand management comprising: a software agent accessed by a tabletcomputer that contains a web browser which interprets the softwareagent; a content management system in communication with the softwareagent; a playback system embedded within the software agent thatdictates content to be shown by the tablet computer, wherein at leastsome of the content and instructions pertaining to the content are sentfrom the content management system and stored on the tablet computerprior to display; and a monitoring system embedded within the softwareagent that collects logging data pertaining to the activity of theplayback system and status data pertaining to other activity of thetablet computer, wherein at least some of the data is stored on thetablet computer prior to transfer of the data to the content managementsystem.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the logging and status dataincludes any of the following: periodic snapshots of the content shown,or a live video stream of the content shown.
 10. The system of claim 8,wherein the monitoring system listens for feedback that pertains to thecontent and that is provided when a user touches a touch screen, pressesan attached button, or interacts with a connected sensor, andsubsequently relays the feedback to the playback system.
 11. The systemof claim 8, wherein a user may pause the content and resume viewing thecontent at a later time.
 12. The system of claim 8, wherein theinstructions include at least one change to at least one settingassociated with the tablet computer.
 13. The system of claim 8, whereinthe content management system provides a mechanism for creating ashortcut that corresponds to a particular set of content files and themechanism is any of the following: URL shortener, QR code generator, orNFC beacon code generator.
 14. The system of claim 8, wherein thecontent is any of the following: employee training video, safety video,human resources video, recruiting video, featured product video, map, oremergency notification.
 15. A system for content playback and managementcomprising: a software agent accessed by a television that contains aweb browser which interprets the software agent; a content managementsystem in communication with the software agent; a playback systemembedded within the software agent that dictates content to be shown bythe television, wherein at least some of the content and instructionspertaining to the content are sent from the content management systemand stored on the television prior to display; and a monitoring systemembedded within the software agent that collects logging data pertainingto the activity of the playback system and status data pertaining toother activity of the television, wherein at least some of the data isstored on the television prior to transfer of the data to the contentmanagement system.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein the logging andstatus data includes any of the following: periodic snapshots of thecontent shown, or a live video stream of the content shown.
 17. Thesystem of claim 15, wherein a user may pause the content and resumeviewing the content at a later time.
 18. The system of claim 15, whereinthe instructions include at least one change to at least one settingassociated with the television.
 19. The system of claim 15, wherein thecontent management system provides a mechanism for creating a shortcutthat corresponds to a particular set of content files and the mechanismis any of the following: URL shortener, QR code generator, or NFC beaconcode generator.
 20. The system of claim 15, wherein the content is anyof the following: employee training video, safety video, human resourcesvideo, recruiting video, featured product video, map, or emergencynotification.